Governor Schwarzenegger announces the first 25 films to qualify for California State incentives

Following the dramatic decline of film production in Los Angeles, due in part to the highly advantageous tax incentives offered by other states, California’s state legislature decided that the bleeding must finally stop. To this end, the State of California now offers film production tax incentives, and Governor Schwarzenegger recently announced the first 25 films to qualify under this scheme. Most or all of these films would not be shot in Los Angeles if it wasn’t for the incentives; they would be made in New Mexico, Michigan, Louisiana, maybe even in New Zealand. Anywhere but here.

Los Angeles needed this very badly. Some sources claim that as much as 80% of the film-production personnel in Los Angeles is stone-cold unemployed. This causes excruciating pain to local restaurants, vendors and, come to think of it, pretty much everyone else in this town.

It would appear that a few tentative green shoots are sprouting in Southern California’s mesmerizing sunshine.